The Coaster: at the seaside in summer

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Modern Britain’s dissonant relationship with the sea is at its most pronounced in summer

Naval slang permeates everyday life to such an extent that an alien philologist would surely conclude that every Briton is a sailor.

We use expressions from Britain’s heyday as a maritime force with such ease that our visiting linguist might also assume that Britannia still rules the waves.

But the truth is otherwise. Phrases such as “plain sailing” and “at close quarters” are endemic precisely because they act as a collective memento mori, a nation’s unconscious attempt to cling to its former glories.

We have long since concluded that punishment meted out by the cat o’ nine tails is barbaric,